Alumni Center Showcase: 1990s

The 1990s brought growth and change to the University, with the school’s centennial and its first website. On Founder’s Day 1997, Lydia Moss Bradley’s statue was unveiled in the new Founder’s Circle. The occasion also featured several events, including a fireworks show, celebrating Bradley’s 100th anniversary. The decade saw the first named colleges on campus: The Foster College of Business came along in 1994, and the Slane College of Communications and Fine Arts was dedicated two years later. Closing out the decade was the ribbon-cutting for the Michel Student Center, named for one of Bradley’s most distinguished alumni, former U.S. Rep. Robert H. Michel ’48 HON ’81 (shown at ribbon-cutting).

Anthony Parker ’97 was the 1996 MVC Player of the Year. That year, the men’s basketball team received an at-large bid in the NCAA Tournament. There also were NIT appearances in 1994, 1995, 1997 and 1999. Another basketball highlight was the buzzer-beating three-pointer by Deon Jackson ’96 (shown at game) for the MVC tourney semifinal victory over Missouri State in 1996. The shot was named the top moment in the history of the MVC’s Arch Madness in a vote by league fans in 2010.